A Portrait of my Irish Grandfather – Robert Farrell (1896 – 1965)

It is unfortunate that I don’t remember my grandfather as he died when I was only 3 1/2 years old. It is only while doing my research this past year that I have been able to learn a little about him.

My grandfather, Robert Farrell, was born in Ballyreagh, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh in Northern Ireland on December 15, 1896. He was the second oldest of nine children born to William Forbes and Elizabeth Jane (Maze) Farrell. His father and grandfather were both farmers and Robert, too, became a farmer - both in Ireland and later after immigrating to Canada.

In 1912, when Robert was 16 years old, he (along with his father, mother, and oldest brother Joseph) signed the Ulster Declaration in support of His Majesty King George V and against Home Rule in Ireland. He, as well as most Protestants in the Province of Ulster felt that Home Rule would be disastrous to the well being of Ulster as well as the whole of Ireland. His brother, John William, at the age of 14 was too young to sign.

It is my belief that the unrest in Ireland is the reason that Robert and his brothers, Joseph and John William decided to immigrate. John William immigrated to Australia, Joseph went to New Zealand and Robert immigrated to Canada. His next two youngest brothers, Forbes and James would later immigrate to Australia. Robert’s sisters, Lillian Olivia, Margaret, Maude and Kathleen all remained in Ireland.

According to his ship’s passenger list, Robert arrived in St. John, New Brunswick on March 22, 1920 aboard the Minnedosa via Liverpool, England. His final destination was to be Winnipeg, Manitoba with the intended occupation to be a farmer, later making his way to Saskatchewan. It is not known yet when or where he met my grandmother, Helen “Nellie” Devlin (she immigrated to Canada in 1921 from Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland), but I have been told that they were married in Govan, Saskatchewan (I have yet to confirm the exact year and place), where they worked for a farmer for a short time before moving to the Balcarres district in Saskatchewan. While there they farmed for a Will Wright in the Tipperary district. Later they rented land from John and Charlie White and lived on what was called the old Bateman farm.

In 1936, Robert and Nellie moved to the Abernethy district to a farm owned by a Mr. Jim Behrns. They spent a year there and in the spring of 1937 moved back to the Tipperary district and rented a farm called “Stoney-Lonesome.

Robert and Nellie had six children, four surviving to adulthood and two that died in infancy. In the 1950’s, Robert and Nellie moved back to Balcarres and finally purchased their own farm, where they both lived until their deaths.

Robert passed away on March 27, 1965 in Balcarres, Saskatchewan and is buried at Regina Memorial Gardens in Regina, Sask. Nellie was to follow on May 22, 1980 and is laid to rest beside Robert.

Wordless Wednesday - The Three Little Twigs

This is a picture of myself (the baby) and my two sisters, Heather and Judy, with our mother, Rhona. We are the three little twigs that the branch from Scotland and the branch from Ireland created. This photo was taken about 1964.

Tombstone Tuesday - William and Helen Crossman

This is the grave marker for my Uncle Harry and Aunt Nell. They are buried in the Veteran's Section of Rosedale Cemetary in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan.

Inscription reads:

Crossman

William

"Harry"

L7080 PTE

1919 - 1999

Helen M.

"Nell"

War Bride

1915 - 2007

Remembered With Love

I would like to thank Marge Cleave, who lives in Saskatchewan, who did a Random Act of Genealogy Kindness for taking this picture for me and sending it to me. I have yet to actually see it in person. She was even nice enough to lay some flowers.

Fate or Coincidence?

My sister is forever telling her kids, and myself, that everything that happens in our lives is preordained in the Book of Life. Was it my destiny to buy a new car last month? Was it my destiny to have my tooth extracted last Saturday (they could have rewritten that chapter!)? Some people say that we make our own destiny. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have been my plan to have my tooth pulled!

All the time growing up, we had heard the story that my stepfather, Douglas Kay, had been in Halifax, Nova Scotia on the day that my mom arrived in Canada. My mom (Rhona MacDonald Marshall) was 13 years old when she left Scotland aboard the Aquitania via Southampton, England on April 4, 1946, landing in Halifax on April 10th. She traveled with two of her older sisters, Vina (aged 15) and Helen (Marshall) Crossman (aged 31). My Aunt Helen (or Nell as she was always called) was a War Bride and was coming to Canada to be with her new husband, William Henry Crossman (uncle Harry). When my grandmother, Eliza Hamilton (Burnett) Marshall, passed away in 1943, my Aunt Nell made a death bed promise to look after the three youngest children, my mom, my Aunt Vina and my Uncle Norman. As “fate” would have it, just before leaving, my Uncle Norman turned 18 years old and had to do his mandatory 2 years military service, causing him to stay behind in Scotland. After spending a few days in Halifax, my mom and her sisters boarded a train and headed west to Balcarres, Saskatchewan to live on the Crossman farm.

My stepfather always loved ships and trains and loved taking pictures of them. In April 1946, when he was 19 years old, he traveled from Montreal to Halifax to see the ships arriving, of which he took many pictures. On April 10th, he happened to take a picture of the Aquitania as she was arriving and on April 11th he took another picture of her while in dock, with all the War Brides at the railing. Was it fate that he was there that day or just a coincidence?

Was it fate that just after the war ended, Doug’s sister Helen married Forbes Peter Farrell (my future father’s oldest brother) and she moved to Balcarres to live on a farm not too far from the Crossman farm? At this time, Doug (still living in Montreal) was working for Canadian Pacific Railway on the cross-country train. When the train got to Indian Head he would jump off and go visit his sister in Balcarres, eventually becoming good friends with the Farrell’s; Forbes, his brother-in-law, Robert Allan, John (Jack) and their sister Lillian (who apparently had a big crush on Doug).

When my mom left school at 16 years old and was out working, she started dating Jack Farrell, who later dumped her for his future wife, Cathy! My mom then starting dating Jack’s older brother Robert Allan (or Allan as he was always called), eventually marrying him on August 15, 1953, making my mom and Doug’s sister, Helen, sisters-in-law. Fate or coincidence? Of course, my mom and Helen (by this time my Aunt Helen) became good friends and she was often at Helen’s house when Doug was there visiting (my mom, not being able to hold a grudge if her life depended on it, also became good friends with Cathy!).

In 1955, my mom, dad and my sister Judy (then just 2 years old), moved to Moose Jaw, Sask. (about an hour from Balcarres), where my Aunt Nell and Uncle Harry had already moved to. This is where my other sister, Heather and I were born. Doug remained friends with my mom and dad after they moved, often going to visit them when he was “out west”.

On August 12, 1962, my father passed away at the age of 35, due to complications from his diabetes, leaving my mom a widow with 3 young children. He was buried on August 15th, my parents 9th wedding anniversary. Of course all the Farrell family and the Crossman family and my Aunt Vina’s family were all at the funeral. Was Doug there? Who knows? I do know that after my dad died, Doug would still come to visit my mom when he was in town, making sure that she was doing o.k. Eventually, their friendship grew into much more and they were married on December 21, 1963 in Moose Jaw. After they were married, we all boarded a train and headed for Montreal.

My mom and stepfather were married for 26 years when he passed away on April 7, 1989 at the age of 61, from complications due to his Parkinson’s Decease. My mom passed away on September 8, 2003 from cancer, at 70 years of age.

So was my mom and stepfather meeting and eventually getting married preordained or was everything just one big coincidence?

Saturday Night Fun - Trading Cards

This weeks Saturday Night Genealogy Fun at Genea-Musings is to create our own Trading Cards, inspired by Sheri Fenley of the Educated Genealogist on her post Trading Cards, Get Your Trading Cards.

I had a lot of problems getting the picture right, but it finally worked. You can make your own by going to Big Huge Labs.

So, without further ado, here is mine:

Saturday Night Fun - My 16 Great Great Grandparents

Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun this week is to list your 16 great great grandparents in pedigree order. The assignment is:

1) List your 16 great-great-grandparents in pedigree chart order. List their birth and death years and places.

2) Figure out the dominant ethnicity or nationality of each of them.

3) Calculate your ancestral ethnicity or nationality by adding them up for the 16 - 6.25% for each (obviously, this is approximate).

4) If you don't know all 16 of your great-great-grandparents, then do it for the last full generation you have.

5) Write your own blog post, or make a comment on Facebook or in this post.

Here are mine:

Paternal Line:

1. William FARRELL was born about 1834 in Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He married Eliza Peters on May 6, 1856 in Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Date of death unknown. (Irish)

2. Eliza PETERS was born about 1834 in Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Date of death unknown. (Irish)

3. James MAZE, son of James Maze (mother unknown) about 1835 in Drumoris, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He married Catherine Fair in 1868 in Drumoris, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He died on August 25, 1878 in Ballyreagh, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. (Irish).

4. Cathering FAIR was born about 1843 in Drumoris, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. She died on July 14, 1916 in Ballyreagh, Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. (Irish)

5. Arthur DEVLIN, son of Peter Devlin and Catherine McConnell, was born on January 19, 1840 in New Cumnock, Ayreshire, Scotland. He married Ann Andrew on November 12, 1858 in Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland. He died on September 2, 1902 in Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland. (Scottish)

6. Ann ANDREW, daughter of William Andrew and Eliza Douglas Goldie, was born about 1831in Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland. She died on October 23, 1902 in Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland. (Scottish)

7. Alexander ANDERSON, son of Robert Anderson and Helen McClarin (?) was born about 1837 in Hulford, District of Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland. He married Jane Dunlop on March 20, 1857 in Hulford, District of Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland. He died on December 21, 1909 in Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland. (Scottish).

8. Jane DUNLOP, daughter of James Dunlop ad Margaret Ferguson, was born on January 26, 1835 in Hulford, District of Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland. She died on September 24, 1921 in Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland. (Scottish).

Maternal Line:

9. Robert MARSHALL, son of George Marshall and Isabella Mitchell was born about 1819 in Alyth, Perthshire, Scotland. He married Ann Kynoch on September 26, 1841 in Alyth, Pershire, Scotland. He died on June 18, 1891 in Dundee, Scotland. (Scottish).

10. Ann KYNOCH, daughter of John Kynoch and Christine Hay was born about 1819 in Dallas, Morrayshire, Scotland. She died on March 13, 1885 in Dundee, Scotland. (Scottish)

11. Hugh HUME was born August 5, 1817 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. He married Agnes Reid on November 11, 1842 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland. He died on March 15, 1899 in the District of Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland. (Scottish).

12. Agnes REID, was born September 22, 1823 in Stevenston, Ayrshire, Scotland. She died on December 19, 1889 in the District of Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland. (Scottish).

13. John BURNETT, son of Alexander Burnett and Margaret Crabb, was born on March 1, 1838 in Fetterncairn, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He married Elizabeth Smith on May 28, 1859 in Glenbervie, Kincardineshire, Scotland. He died on August 16, 1900 in Dundee, Scotland. (Scottish).

14. Elizabeth SMITH, daughter of Charles Smith and Helen Longmuir was born about 1836 in Glenbervie, Kincardineshire, Scotland. She died on August 13, 1872 in Logie Pert, Forfar, Scotland. (Scottish).

15. Robert MARSHALL, son of George Marshall and Isabella Mitchell was born about 1819 in Alyth, Perthshire, Scotland. He married Ann Kynoch on September 26, 1841 in Alyth, Pershire, Scotland. He died on June 18, 1891 in Dundee, Scotland. (Scottish).

16. Ann KYNOCH, daughter of John Kynoch and Christine Hay was born about 1819 in Dallas, Morrayshire, Scotland. She died on March 13, 1885 in Dundee, Scotland. (Scottish)

Nos. 15 and 16 are duplicates of Nos. 9 and 10 due to the fact that my mother’s parents were first cousins.

The predominant ethnicity is Scottish with a sprinkling of Irish.

I think this was an excellent exercise as it helps me to know where I still have lots work to do.

Constable John Burnett (1863 - 1923)

On a previous post I mentioned how I contacted the Tayside Police Department’s Museum in Dundee, Scotland to see if they might have my great grandfather’s work record, which they did and were able to send to me. They also mentioned that they should have a picture of him in his uniform. On July 28th, I received an email saying that they were able to get a picture of him taken off and they were putting it in the mail that day. Just 4 days later on July 31st, I received the picture in the mail (I can’t believe it only took 4 days from Scotland when it takes nearly a week and a half for local mail!). This was very exciting as this is the first picture I have of any of my great grandparents. They actually sent two copies of the picture so I will be sending one to my Aunt in Saskatchewan.

Constable John Burnett was born on July 29, 1863 in Fettercairn, Kincardineshire, Scotland to John Burnett and Elizabeth Smith. He married Helen Leighton Marshall on April 24, 1885 in Dundee, Scotland and died on March 2, 1923 in Dundee, Scotland.

Digitized Newspapers for New Zealand

While goofing around today on my lunch break, purely by accident I came across the website for digitized newspapers for New Zealand called Papers Past, put together by the National Library of New Zealand.

According to their Intro page, Papers Past contains more than one million pages of digitised New Zealand newspapers and periodicals. The collection covers the years 1839 to 1932 and includes 52 publications from all regions of New Zealand. What's even better, from what I can see, it is completly free!

If you have ancestors hailing from New Zealand, this might be a great place to look.

Wordless Wednesday - Life on the Prairies?

This is a picture of my Aunt Nell (Helen Marshall Crossman - 3rd from the right) along with some of her War Bride friends. Is this what life on the Canadian Prairies did to them?

The picture on the left is my Aunt Nell with one of her best friends, Lena Hammer, who was also a War Bride. These pictures were taken in Regina, Saskatchewan at a War Brides Reunion in April 1988 when my aunt was 73 yrs. old. She passed away two years ago at the young age of 91.

Check It Out

Deez from Cemetery Explorers was kind enough to do a new banner for me, and I just love it. I love the effect of the branches/twigs.

I am trying to send a "thank you" note by way of a comment on his blog, but for some reason Blogger is not letting me (I will keep trying), so I am publicly thanking him here.

Thank you, Deez. You're a gem for doing this.